Samsung eyes 60% of smartphone market

Korean handset giant Samsung on Thursday said it expects to capture 60 per cent share of the Indian smartphone market this year on the back of a slew of new devices, including its latest Galaxy SIII.

‘According to third party data, we have over 46 per cent share in the Indian smartphone market. We are confident of increasing this to 60 per cent this year,’ Samsung India Head (mobile and IT) Ranjit Yadav said.

The Indian smartphone market is pegged to grow to about 18 million units in 2012, he added.

In the first four months of this year, the company has announced the launch of 10 new mobile handsets, including its new dual-sim smartphones like Galaxy Y Duos and Galaxy Y Pro Duos, taking the basket to 19 in the price range of between Rs 7,830 and Rs 38,290.

To consolidate its position in India, the company on Thursday launched its latest Galaxy SIII handset, priced at Rs 43,180.

Unveiled initially in London, the handset will be available for sale in India from Friday.

‘India, one of the world’s largest mobile market, is indeed very important to us as it contributes substantial portion of our global sales. We see India as one of key growth markets 2012 going forward, especially in smartphone segment where we have observed overwhelming growth in last couple of quarters,’ he said.

The much-awaited Galaxy S-III smartphone, powered by Android operating system 4.0, is touted as a strong competitor to the yet-to be launched iPhone 5 (expected to be launched later this year).

Samsung recently dethroned long-time leader Nokia, snatching the numero uno position from the Finnish company in the first quarter of 2012 with 86.6 million units global shipment, as per research firm Gartner.

It also outshone Apple with sales of 38 million units worldwide, the research firm had said.

Samsung Galaxy S-III comes with a 4.8-inch screen, bigger than its highly successful predecessor Galaxy S-II.